


Never-ending summer

by River_T_h_am_es



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series), Over the Garden Wall (Cartoon & Comics)
Genre: Crossover, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Style, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-13 13:42:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16893702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/River_T_h_am_es/pseuds/River_T_h_am_es
Summary: About Camp Campbell's real location.Just a sad fairy tale.





	Never-ending summer

 

"Wirt, we're going the wrong way." Beatrice looked around with a frown. They've been wandering among misty pines for an hour at least.

 

 "You're just keep saying that we're going the wrong way but can't tell us which way is actually right! Ouch!" Wirt, not for the first time, got his hat caught with a tree brunch. 

 

Beatrice shook her head. "You can't even imagine how tired I am of this all..." she muttered.

 

"If you feel tired, you can have a seat here!" Greg cheerfully pointed at his teapot.

 

 "No, Greg,"  Beatrice flew closer to the little boy, "I'm tired of interaction I have with your brother. Who keeps on going bald headed through the forest instead of figuring out some destination at first!"

 "I do not go bald headed," said Wirt right before getting his foot caught with a tree trunk, "anyway, we are going somewhere, so we will get... somewhere. This forest can't last forever!"

 

Greg stopped with a thoughtful expression on his face.

 

"Can you feel it? The weather is changing! It's getting warmer!"

 

He was right: it was uncharacteristically warm, hot even. Wirt pulled off his cloak. The day was nearing to evening, but the forest around them got lighter, dark pines replaced with soft birches. There was a blue clearance behind the threes, the one you can see near some lake or river.

 

 "We definitely ARE lost," said Beatrice.

 

"The climate change is real! Summer's back!"

 

"Greg, wait!" shouted Beatrice and Wirt in unison, but Greg had already run away.

 

He ran into a fine clearing. There were several tents and a little wooden cabin. Sunbeams were playing cheerfully on the lake nearby.

 

Beatrice sat on a branch of a small rowan. "I've heard about this place. It is really... sad."

 

Wirt shragged, looking at the tents and the flagpole. "Looks not that bad. A summer camp is some civilization, after all. Maybe they'll help us here."

 

"Hey!" A girl and a boy were running straight to them. The boy had a top hat on his head, and a girl wore a pointed hat very similar to Wirt's. "Are you newcomers?"

 

Beatrice flew away, saying, "Ask the way  and leave."

 

"Which camp are you from?" The girl was eyeing Wirt and Greg with interest. 

 

 "Ehm..." Wirt couldn't find the answer, and Greg chimed in, "Pilgrim camp!"

 

The girl was thrilled.

 

"Really? Are you guys on quest?"

 

"You can say that," agreed Wirt, "are there any grown-ups here?.."

 

"Quartermaster hasn't returned from the forest yet, there's just David in here," said the boy.

 

 "We just wanted to..." Wirt didn't finish the sentence because Greg interrupted him, "We just wanted something to eat!"

 

 "So do we," said the girl, "the dinner is about to start. Maybe there'll be enough mashed potatoes for both of you."

 

"Hurray! Potatoes!"

 

 

 

 Inside the wooden house Wirt searched for any older person, but there were only kids about Greg's age. They sat at the table, shouting, throwing tissues and bouncing on their chairs.

 

 "Who the hell are you?" said the dark-haired boy with unfriendly look. "What with the outfit, are you from some summer Halloween or what?"

 

  "Yes," said Greg, sitting next to the boy, "I'm an elephant!" 

 

 "I'd say you're Space kid, but he's sitting right there."

 

Greg looked at the boy with a fishbowl on his head opposite them. He waved Greg amiably, and Greg waved back.

 

 "I like my name, it's 'Greg'," Greg said to the angry boy. "Besides, 'Spacekid' doesn't sound very elephant-y."

 

The angry boy shook his head and said something definitely  impolite.

 

The door  opened, and Wirt saw a man with a little girl coming in. The girl was about to cry.

 

 "It's unfair, David. I found them myself!"

 

 "Nikki, we can't take them to the Camp. The wolflings are better to be left in the forest with their family."

 

 "But... oh! Wow!" The girl, Nikki, jumped to Greg, pointing at his frog with sheer delight. "May I? May I?"

 

 "No," Greg carefully shielded the frog with his hands," he isn't edible."

 

 "I'm not going to eat him, I just want to hold him!"

 

Wirt watched the man in bewilderment. The man finally looked at Wirt and smiled. It was a sad smile.

 

 "Hello, Wirt."

 

 "David!" Greg jumped from his place, leaving the frog to Nikki, ran to David and hugged him around his knees. All children watched them, puzzled, and the angry boy frowned even more.

 

 "Oh, hi, Greg. You must be hungry, huh?" David smiled at Greg and patted his shoulder, "come on, luckily our Quartermaster made more mashed potatoes than usual."

 

After dinner the kids went outside to play. It was getting dark, and the first hazy stars appeared in the sky. Not far from the tents David was making a bonfire.

 

Wirt came closer and silently sit next to him. He wanted to ask about many things and at the same time he didn't want to know them, he didn't want these answers. They  hardly  would  make the forest around them to step aside and show them the way home. They'll just ring in the air like a haunted song from the depth of this dark wood, waiting for them to surrender and become its part.

 

David readjusted the firewood and looked over his shoulder  at the playing kids.

 

 "From here you can walk right to the small town called Sleepy Peak. The Quartermaster will show you the road. There you can ask which way to go next."

 

Wirt nodded.

 

"I got it. I... Thank you, David."

 

He got it all. He got what exactly David was doing here. Looked like a thing  his ( previous) neighbor would do, after all.

 

Wirt waited for a few minutes and asked, "Does anyone pick them from here?"

 

David stretched his palm closer to mischievous fire. "Hardly ever."

 

Wirt looked at the kids. Greg had a fishbowl on his head, and Nikki was spinning with the frog in his hands.

 

 "You better leave now until your brother decides to stay here," David said.

 

Wirt nodded and went to collect his brother. Greg  returned the fishbowl to the Space kid and took his teapot.

 

"Wirt, can we stay here a little bit longer?"

 

 "No, Greg," David's voice was surprisingly stern, "you should go back home. Your  brother can take you there."

 

Greg scowled. Nikki put the frog in his arms, and he clutched him to his chest, mumbling, "I'll name you Preston Goodplay".

 

 "Are you leaving already?" asked Harrison, the boy in a top hat.

 

"They're on quest," Nerris explained, "they have to go."

 

The campers gathered around, softly talking to each other and  watching Wirt and Greg with a wistful look in their eyes. It was like they were left behind an exciting trip to the zoo or some funny tour to the amusement park, but they realized and accepted long time ago that tears and tantrums won't help or fix anything here.

 

"Well, we've got to go. Goodbye, everybody," said Wirt and took his brother's hand.

 

David led them to the road where the old Quartermaster with a lantern in his hand was waiting.

Nikki hugged Preston Goodplay for the last time and stood next to David.

The brothers were about to leave when Greg  turned to David.

 

"I'll tell mrs Greenwood that you've found a job and that's why you can't go back home.  She still thinks you've drowned, for some reason."

 

Nikki watched David from the corner of her eye. David just smiled and replied softly,  "Thank you, Greg."

 

Wirt mumbled, "That's not the best idea."

 

Nikki and David looked at the dim light of the lantern until it disappeared.  It was dark, but Nikki still managed to distinguish a little bird which flew from the forest and landed on Greg's shoulder. 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Max popped out the moment David and Nikki returned to the Camp.

 

 "Where are the new guys? Already gone? Hey, David, see? Even frogs and gnomes can bear you for two hours at best!"

 

"Right, Max,  it's time to go to sleep," David gently pushed Max to the tents and went to send other kids to bed as well.

 

"Hey!" Max turned to Nikki.  "Bet he's  upset  because they ran away from this camp shit that soon!"

 

Nikki didn't laugh.

 

"You are dumb, Max. And so are your jokes, you know?"

 

She walked pass Max without looking at him and not paying any attention to his little "what?"

 

 

 

David waited for the boy to climb into his bed.

 

"Even the bravest of astronauts take their helmets off before they go to bed, Neil."

 

The boy reluctantly pulled the fishbowl off his head and put it carefully near the bed. The counselor was about to leave the tent, when the boy asked, "David, will they ever take us home as well?"

David turned to Neil. It was dark, so he couldn't see David's face, but his voice sounded clear and cheerful as ever when he answered, "Of course, Neil! Who would stay in a summer camp for ever?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!)


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